The DMV Daily Spotlights “Woody” for Mental Health Awareness Month

Few people embody McClendon Center’s values more than Rudolph Woody. Known to colleagues and clients simply as “Woody,” he has served as our Substance Use Disorders Program Coordinator since 2006 — building the Center’s substance use recovery program from the ground up and sustaining it for nearly two decades.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, The DMV Daily sat down with Woody to hear how he got here, what keeps him going, and what he wants Washington, DC to understand about the people he serves every day.

His path into this work wasn’t planned. A born-and-raised Washingtonian, Woody came to the counseling field through his own journey through recovery, and it’s that lived experience that has shaped everything about the way he shows up for clients.

“The work found me,” he says. “I didn’t go looking for it.”

Over nearly four decades in the field, he has developed a reputation for directness, deep conviction, and an ability to reach people that colleagues describe as rare. He is, by any measure, an institution within an institution.

Read the full profile at The DMV Daily